The Nalukai Team
AUSTON STEWART
Nalukai Foundation Executive director
startup camp facilitator
Auston@nalukai.org
Auston is a technologist and entrepreneur with a decade of software engineering, project management and team building experience at Silicon Valley firms such as Apple and Twitch Interactive. As Vice President of Engineering at FinTech startup Xpert Financial, he led the effort to deploy the first fully automated, electronic trading system approved by the SEC for the exchange of private company securities. Auston delivered major updates to Twitch’s iOS and Android clients, growing mobile viewership and propelling the company toward its $970 million acquisition by Amazon. As a mentor, it is Auston’s goal to equip young people with the analytical skills, technical ability, and audacity to meet head-on the unprecedented challenges of the 21st century.
DAVID CLARKE
Nalukai Foundation board member
Startup Camp director
david@nalukai.org
With over 25 years of experience in schools as a teacher, coach, academic dean, assistant head of school, and college counselor, David brings a wealth of knowledge to Nalukai Academy. Since beginning as a teacher and college counselor at the Parker School in Waimea, David has helped thousands of students successfully navigate high school and the college application process. David is a graduate of Punahou School, the University of Southern California, and Columbia University. Before returning to Hawai'i, he worked as the director of college counseling at The Winsor School in Boston, the director of college counseling and the academic dean at Buckingham, Browne & Nichols School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and as college counselor and English teacher at the Menlo School in Northern California.
AARON SCHORN
Nalukai Foundation alumni and community director
Startup Camp facilitator
aaron@nalukai.org
At Nalukai, Aaron creates and implements curriculum, hustles to find mentors, and teaches digital storytelling. Outside of Nalukai he is focused on creating student-centered systems to authentically tell the story of learning communities. At Hawai'i Preparatory Academy (HPA) he teaches Digital Journalism and Social Entrepreneurship courses that are centered around Product-Based Learning, the Lean Startup methodology, project management, and building digital brands. The class is supported by mentors across industries working directly with students on their products. Aaron's professional background is in international business, digital storytelling, operations/management, UX/UI, and content creation.
MAY SAMALI
Nalukai STARTUP CAMP FACILITATOR
May Samali is a professionally certified leadership coach, facilitator, venture partner and founder. She is passionate about investing in people and ideas that can transform the world. Drawing on more than a decade of international experience as a corporate lawyer, venture capital investor, technology entrepreneur, and CEO, May helps individuals and teams identify their purpose and unleash their power and potential. May was formerly a founding investor at the Urban Innovation Fund, a venture capital firm investing in entrepreneurs shaping the future of cities. She holds a Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government as well as Law and Economics degrees from Sydney University. She is also an Australian John Monash Scholar and a Gleitsman Leadership Fellow at Harvard's Center for Public Leadership.
CARLO LIQUIDO
NALUKAI STARTUP CAMP and fall program FACILITATOR
Carlo Liquido, born and raised in Hawaii, is a designer and data enthusiast passionate about leveraging technology for social good. As lead designer at healthcare startup Zenysis, he helped governments tackle the world’s most pressing development challenges. At Shopify, he developed self-serve tools to equip new entrepreneurs with the knowledge and insights to scale their ventures. Currently, Carlo leads Lady Bandit Studios, a local product studio dedicated to shaping a more equitable future in Hawaii. His Circular Design Internship program provides career-building opportunities for aspiring Hawaii-connected designers. Carlo earned his Economics degree from Brown University and holds a Masters in Information from UC Berkeley, where he served as an adjunct professor teaching full-stack development. At Nalukai, Carlo creates curriculum and facilitates participatory design methods.
MARA LINOHAUPUAOKEKOʻOLAU PAVICH GARCIA
STARTUP CAMP DEI COORDINATOR AND FACILITATOR
Mara is a counselor and educator with nearly two decades of curricula development, counseling, and program design experience, and has worked in Hawaiʻi, Seattle, and Los Angeles. Mara designs inclusive programming that elevates student voice, while encouraging the examination of core cultural identities and the development of social and emotional strategies to increase self- and social awareness. Maraʻs passion lies in strategically developing and enhancing relationships within communities; with the belief that it is in connection with one another, that inclusive practices towards social change can thrive. At Nalukai, Mara aspires to play a role in building capacity and agency in Founders -- allowing them to see their potential to elevate our local community, towards a more just and sustainable future. Outside of Nalukai, Mara is the K-12 Wellness Director at St. Andrew’s Schools in Honolulu, Hawai’i.
